iOS14 upgrade and iTunes 12.8.2.3 can no longer see iPhone to backup or sync

Yes, you need to install iTunes 12.8.2 in order for your iPhone to be recognized by your mac. The Apple Support pages do not address the issue we’ve been having, so that’s why this work around posted in this community has been so helpful. I guess you’ll have to uninstall your current version of Itunes in order to download and use the previous iTunes version 12.8.2. Hope you get it working!

This fixed the issue. For some reason, the updates are not triggering the software to read a change to IOS 14.1 and update the patch. This definitely fixes the problem.

I have iTunes 12.8.2.3 on a iMac 27 inch late 2009. MacOS 10.13.6.

After an update to iOS 14, iTunes stopped seeing my iPhone and iPad. The above solution worked well immediately.

We had been running Sierra and when I got my new SE in May with IOS 14 I could not get itunes to see my phone. Even after upgrading to High Sierra I still had issues. So out of the blue tried the USB port in front and it worked. So for some funny reason our USB ports on back of Mac Pro (2010-2012) 2013 version stopped working. My wife couldn't use her Cricut either. Trying to figure out if Firmware update to run High Sierra disabled our rear USB ports.

I am a 30 year Mac user and current engineers are less concerned with reverse compatibility than in years past. HS isn't even 4 years old and they have released three more OS versions since then.

Reboot your router and computer, then try again.

tt2

When you connect your device you should get a prompt for an update if needed which is a patch to iTunes to connect to devices running newer versions of iOS.

Ahhhhhh, ok, I thought it wanted to do an OS update. I could've done this yesterday when I was getting that update message, my fault. Let me try that and see what happens.

Thanks!

Yes, that was confusing as well, and really Apple devs should know to keep that "needs an update" in the foreground : (

Whats also confusing is when I finally did the update iTunes wanted, there was a progress bar for 1 min or so and then it went away. When I clicked on the iTunes icon in the dock, only then did I see "iTunes is performing an update" etc. No No window or alert when it finished. After about 15 min, I decided to check again and this time when I clicked on iTunes, it launched and there was my bloody iPhone symbol to let me know it was seeing the iPhone...finally. They really should make these things a little clearer, especially the "needs an update" window ffs. How would you know you weren't about to be upgraded to Bug Sur? lol

Thanks!

Thank you very much for your support. I solved the issue with re-install iTunes, I can see Iphone again.

Temporarily disable any VPN or other security software. Use a wired connection instead of Wi-Fi. Make sure your system time and region are correct.

tt2

You're welcome. Have you considered reinstalling OS X yet? Your data should all stay put but wise to back up regardless.

tt2

See iTunes for Mac installers - Apple Community for installer links.

tt2

You could reinstall High Sierra and then reinstall iTunes and see if that has any impact. You could also test. behaviour in a different user profile.

tt2

thank you very much for this trick, it works very well. (my advise would be to plug the iPhone before starting iTunes so that it starts directly the required software "“A software update is required to connect to iPhone") . THANK YOU SO MUCH !

thank-you so much for posting this - i had the exact same issue with iTunes (v12.8.2.3) and Mac OS High Sierra (v10.13.6) - downloading the iTunes from the link, reinstalling and then plugging in my iPhone (iOS 14.1) worked a treat - it prompted for the patch to install so that my iPhone would work with my iTunes.

thanks again, stay well and keep safe, Ray.

What version of macOS/OS X are you running? Things seem to be OK at https://www.apple.com/support/systemstatus/. Perhaps you need to reinstall your OS to repair anything the malware might have done, then reinstall iTunes.

tt2